in response...

often i find myself longing for home.  when life is long and hard... when things are happening that i just don't quite understand... when my relationship with God seems far and distant... fill in the blank... so many things cause us to long for eternity, but what do we do about it?  i have to admit that frequently this is the extent of my "longing"- i take a few minutes, ponder the thought, maybe even spend some time with the Lord, but then i move on, the day pretty much unaffected by the past moment.  and in response, as i honestly evaluate my actions, i say, "this is so wrong!"  if my "longing for home" does not motivate me to more than a moment, my longing is not so much a longing but a flighty feeling.

so then, what do i do about it?  what should i be motivated to do as a result of a legitimate longing?  for myself, God continually challenges me and presents me with opportunities to give grace.  and i do think... that yes, if i am a person focused on the eternal, a follower of Christ who longs to be with Him, i must give grace.  grace is one of those things God calls us to do that i think is just a little crazy and backwards at times.  hear me out, i fully believe in the power and necessity for us to be people of grace, but doesn't it at times seem a little counterproductive?  i mean the concept of grace is everything that we have been trained as leaders, parents, teachers, etc. NOT to do... people get what they work for... or what they don't work for.  you do something bad, you're punished.  you do something good, you're rewarded.  and then God calls us to be people of grace. i think we water down grace when we look at it from any other perspective.

this is grace... Jesus died for our sins on the cross.  He did this asking nothing from us.  our attitudes, our response, our love for Him do not and did not affect this action of grace.  even though His grace should motivate us to obedience and commitment, it is not dependent on or affected by such responses.  even when grace is given and the giver has an expectation of response by the receiver, this expectation in no way should or does affect the giving of the grace.  it is an action that stands alone.  and this is exactly what we are called to give...

and to this i say, "WHAT?!"  i mean really... ok, so grace, sure i'll forgive someone... i can do that, i can be the bigger person... but grace is definitely more than just simple forgiveness.  yes, forgiveness is an element, but just to forgive... there is so much more.  when i think about Christ's grace that He gave us in the action of His death for our sins, there was so much involved, so much more than we even know... i look at what He did and i see that He took on the repercussions for our sin!  in His grace He took on death.

when we are gracious with people and we forgive, we still have expectations... and these expectations, though they can be hoped for, should not affect our grace (no matter how big or small the action against us).  grace is about our response to someone else, not their response to us.  how could grace be grace if it had repercussions for the receiver of the grace... sure, i'll forgive you if you change... and i think often, all of us, and definitely me, view grace in this light.  however, i see such a beauty and truth in grace that is given with the understanding that there will be repercussions for themselves (the giver) because of the giving of grace. so many times grace is given to someone who does not change... someone who does not respond... someone who belittles the gift... and then the repercussions come... work and pain and results of the sin, that you as the grace giver must deal with as well, or sometimes even more so than the receiver.  to give grace and know this and accept this is huge.  this is grace like Jesus gave to us.

i have so many things i want to communicate and i feel like this post is a little here and there and everywhere... but these are my thoughts.  God's grace for us is unreal, huge and something that we cannot comprehend.  in His Word we are called to be people that give grace.  not a different kind of grace... not a watered down grace... a grace that sometimes seems a little crazy... a grace that many people, including ourselves, do not often give...

so as i long for home, as i see how this should characterize my life, i see that grace is essential in the "longer's" life.  i mean how could it not be?  if i long for home and not this one, i am not entitled to anything.  this includes people not responding to me how they should... (i'm not saying let people walk all over you... but really think about it...)  if i do long for eternity and know that as a follower of Jesus i must be a gracious follower, i am not entitled to people changing when i forgive them... people don't owe me their friendship or their deepest apologies or even the promise "to never do it again"... grace is huge.  i know that God knows that it is huge... He called His Son to this task... and He calls His children to it as well.